Natural Resources and Energy Paper

Natural Resources and Energy Paper The rainforest is Earth’s oldest living ecosystem. Although they only span 6% of the surface of the Earth, rainforests contain more than half of the world’s plant and animal species. The amount of species that live in the rainforest is greater than 30 million plants and animals. In addition to plants and animals, nearly 50,000,000 tribal people live in the world’s rainforests. They depend on the rainforests to provide them with food and shelter. The rainforest has an extremely unique climate. It is a very humid and hot climate. This requires the species that dwell there to adapt and adjust to their surroundings. The rainforest also receives a high amount of rainfall every year. The rainforest is comprised of four layers. The first layer, the emergent layer, contains trees that tower two hundred feet tall. This layer contains the most sunlight, and therefore, birds, monkeys, and flying insects can be found here. The second layer, the canopy layer, provides a cover for the bottom two layers. This layer has the greatest food source and its inhabitants include some birds, reptiles, and amphibians. The third layer, the understory layer, is very dimly lit. The sunlight has a hard time reaching this layer; therefore, the trees and shrubs are much smaller than the above layers. This layer contains the most animals, including jaguars and leopards. The final layer is the forest floor. It is the darkest layer and has very few inhabitants. Its main occupant is the anteater. Things decay very quickly on the forest floor because there is no sunlight. The rainforest provides us with many crucial parts of our lives, including food and medicine; however, humans have played a destructive role in maintaining this ecosystem. Over the past 50 years, most of the rainforest has been destroyed. Vast areas of the rainforest are being cut down, to remove a few logs, along with the rainforest being destroyed at double the rate

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